Gilt Co-Founder Leaves for Startup

Alexandra Wilkis Wilson will take over as Glamsquad chief

Gilt Groupe co-founder Alexandra Wilkis Wilson is leaving her role at the company she helped nurture from a startup idea to a global enterprise to become co-founder and CEO of Glamsquad, an app offering at-home hair and makeup services, The Wall Street Journal reported. The startup operates in New York City, but has plans to expand to the Los Angeles market.

While Wilkis Wilson will remain a senior advisor at Gilt, she will relinquish her day-to-day duties at the company, where she most recently held the title of head of strategic alliances. She will begin her new role at Glamsquad on Sept. 1.

Wilkis Wilson is investing in Glamsquad along with co-founders Jason Perri, executive chairman, and Victoria Eisner, who currently serves as CEO and will become chief creative officer following Wilkis Wilson's arrival. According to Perri, the company has raised around $2 million in seed funding. The Wall Street Journal reported that Perri and Wilkis Wilson, who attended Harvard together, "reconnected at a Harvard technology event earlier this year, where he told her about Glamsquad, which had launched in January."

"We scheduled a lunch, which led to dinner and another lunch," Mr. Perri told the daily publication. "It became clear she was looking to do something else entrepreneurial."

Wilkis Wilson co-founded Gilt back in 2007, following her role managing retail operations at Bulgari. She has been instrumental in building the startup into a successful global enterprise but wanted to move on to new ventures.

"Gilt is my baby, but I feel like this baby is now in college," she told The Wall Street Journal.